2011-12 Youth Premier League Season
The 2011–12 Premier League (known as the Barclays Premier League for sponsorship reasons) was the twentieth season of the Premier League since its establishment in 1992. The 2011–12 fixtures were announced on 17 June 2011 at 9:00 BST. The season began on 13 August 2011 and ended on 13 May 2012. Manchester City won their first league title since 1968, beating 3–2 on the final day of the season with a last-minute goal from Sergio Agüero. The title was City's first Premier League success, making them the fifth club to win the Premier League in its twenty-year history. It was the first time the Premier League had been won on goal difference and the first time a previously relegated club in the Premier League had won the title. The league was contested by 20 teams, seventeen returning from the 2010–11 season and three promoted from the Football League Championship. Championship winners Queens Park Rangers and runners-up gained automatic promotion whilst Swansea City gained promotion through the Football League Championship play-offs beating Reading 4–2 in May 2011. All three promoted clubs avoided relegation. The season was voted as the greatest Premier League season in the Premier League 20 Seasons Awards. Season summary Manchester City won the title in a tense finale, their first championship since 1968. Going into the final matches, which were played simultaneously, City were top of the league, ahead of their local rivals Manchester United on goal difference. However, a Wayne Rooney goal away to Sunderland gave United the advantage. A 39th minute goal from Pablo Zabaleta, his first of the season, put City back on top at half time. In a dramatic second half Djibril Cissé equalised for Queens Park Rangers in the 48th minute. Shortly after, Joey Barton of QPR was sent off for elbowing Carlos Tévez; on his way off the pitch, he kicked Sergio Agüero, attempted to headbutt Vincent Kompany and squared up to Mario Balotelli. Despite the numerical advantage, City went behind after Jamie Mackie gave QPR the lead in the 66th minute. Edin Džeko equalised for City in the 92nd minute and it appeared that Manchester United would win the title with a victory over Sunderland. In a frantic end to the Manchester City match, Sergio Agüero scored the winner in the 94th minute to clinch the title on goal difference. Elsewhere in the league, QPR avoided relegation, despite losing to Manchester City; Bolton Wanderers could only draw at Stoke City, failing to overtake QPR, and therefore joining Blackburn Rovers and Wolverhampton Wanderers in being relegated to the Championship. For the second time in the Premier League's history, none of the three clubs promoted from the Championship in the previous season were relegated at the end of the season with the other two teams, Swansea City and Norwich City, finishing 11th and 12th respectively. The last time all three newly-promoted teams stayed up (2001-02), Blackburn and Bolton were two of those teams. Arsenal finished third to join Manchester City and Manchester United in the UEFA Champions League. Tottenham Hotspur finished in the fourth and final Champions League slot but missed out on qualification for the competition because Chelsea's victory in the 2012 Champions League Final automatically entitles them to defend their title in the 2012-13 tournament at the expense of the lowest ranked team that would otherwise qualify for the competition through league position. This is the first time that this rule has been implemented in the Premier League, having been introduced by UEFA after Liverpool's controversial qualification for the 2005-06 UEFA Champions League. This consequently marked the first time that the club finishing fourth in the Premier League had not qualified for the tournament since the fourth qualifying spot was introduced in the 2001-02 season. Newcastle United finished fifth and qualified for the 2012–13 UEFA Europa League. Everton finished 7th, just above local rivals Liverpool. Despite finishing above them for the first time in seven years, it was Liverpool who claimed the final Europa League slot, by virtue of winning the 2011–12 Football League Cup. Teams The teams ending the 2010–11 season in the bottom three places of the table were relegated to the 2011–12 Football League Championship. finished in last place, ending the East London side's six-year tenure in the league. and both joined them in relegation, following dramatic games on the last day of the season. Queens Park Rangers as 2010–11 Football League Championship winners and runners-up Norwich City were directly promoted at the end of the season. Queens Park Rangers appeared in the Premier League for the first time in fifteen years, while Norwich City returned after a six-year absence and two successive promotions, becoming the first team since Manchester City to do so in eleven years. The last team to be promoted was decided by the Championship play-off final on 30 May 2011, where Swansea City defeated Reading 4–2 to become the first Welsh-based team to enter the Premier League. Stadia and locations * 1 Though the official name of the stadium is Sports Direct Arena, it is more commonly referred to as St James' Park * 2 Molineux is currently undergoing redevelopment. The season began with capacity limited to 24,259, but increased with the opening of the bottom of a two-tier new stand during September 2011. Personnel and kits Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality. League table